Hidden Prince
by Chiharu Hikari
Summary: AU! Sixteen years ago, a battle has lead to the "death" of Naruto and caused grief to the royal Namikaze family. What would happen if the family sees someone who could be an older Naruto? Pure craziness. Alive!Minato & Kushina w/kids. ON HIATUS
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Naruto and co. along with Naruto-related names are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot/story/ideas are all by me and I do not receive profit from writing this, and this is only for my own enjoyment. And as mentioned the quotes below in italics are by their right owners (I got them from the quotegarden website) .  
**

**Hope you enjoy the story.**

_Italics for thoughts, titles, quotes, flashbacks, etc._

Normal text for the story in general.

**Bold for setting, chapter title, and notes at the bottom.**

**

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**

_The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~Erma Bombeck_

_When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. ~Joyce Brothers_

_Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal. ~From a headstone in Ireland_

_**Prologue of Hidden Prince**  
_

**Ichiraku Ramen Restaurant & Bar**

**October 10, 2008**

"Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! I am Seishou, your waiter for day. So what drinks would you like to start off with?" Seishou asked to a couple in front of him. Being an orphan with no where else to go at the age of one, Teuchi and Ayame, owner and daughter of the bar and restaurant, took him into the world of ramen, hospitality and family. Although there were times of problems, Seishou loved being here and working for his pseudo-family.

The red-haired man of the couple said, "Well, I would like some Koke."

"And you?" Seishou turned to the brown-haired woman.

"Fireland's Ice Tea, if you have it," the woman said with a smile.

"All right," Seishou said as he written down the drinks. "Here are the menus, and I'll be back with the drinks. And by then, I hope you'll have your order ready. Okay?" The couple nodded and Seishou left them to the drink station.

Already at the drink station, a short green haired waitress was grumbling about serving ten people. "If you have a problem serving, Saya-chan, why bother working here?" Seishou asked while he was behind her.

Saya gasped. "Seishou, don't scare me like that! And as you know, there's no such thing as a money tree. If there was, I wouldn't be working."

Seishou smirked as he grabbed two Kola glass cups. "Right. You have no trouble with the size of people before."

"Well, if you have ten perverted men to serve, you will see my problem," Saya huffed when she filled three glass cups with Fire Mist.

"Mhmm, want me to help after this," Seishou said as his gestured to the drinks in his hands.

"If you want to," she said. Before she left with the three drinks, Saya said, "Happy birthday, Seishou."

Seishou grinned. "Thanks, I almost forgot!" Then the blond waiter handed the drinks to his customers before taking their order and continues on with his shift.

**Around Konoha**

**Inside the Royal Limo**

Queen Kushina Namikaze nee Uzumaki was almost happy with her life. _Almost._ Although it was the celebration of the end of the Shu no Tero (Week of Terror), she didn't feel like celebrating. Her first child was the sacrifice for Konoha to be safe. Hikaru and Yuki, her two last children are special, yes. She loves them with all her heart, but they could never fill the gap of Naruto. Kushina had her fingers gripping on the green silk of her dress by the knees as she quickly glanced at her children across from her along with Tsunade.

One boy and one girl; both have red hair and a little spoiled on the side. While Hikaru was spoiled through the title as prince and the duties of one, Yuki was spoiled through playtime and dressing up. The red haired queen couldn't blame them for it, not entirely. Since the lost of her first child Naruto, she did as much as she could to have as much time with them as possible.

Then she took a look at her husband who was between Jiraiya and her. Strong, loyal and nice, Minato was the man that she had secretly wished for. Although he looked amused by his children's antics (Yuki and Hikaru were having an argument about the properness of a porcelain doll), Kushina knew that he missed his fellow blond of a son. And she respected Minato for trying to look beyond the past to today.

The redheaded mother, wife and queen sighed as she looked through the window on her right to see the sights of the capital city her land has to offer. Passing them by was brand name stores, malls, and fast food places. _Where's our past? We should at least keep a little of it_, Kushina thought. After the attack sixteen years ago, fast food and modern places were booming; neither tea shops nor traditional restaurants were kept. It's all about the modern economy and fresh elegance, even the ramen nowadays is no longer in ramen stands (there's rarely any!). Now there are in just festive looking Styrofoam cups called Kono-chan: Instant Noodles.

Kushina sighed. _I really need some __good__ salt ramen for memories sake._

"Kushina?"

Said woman and violet eyes turned to the caller in a bored fashion. "Hmm?"

Tsunade sighed as she smoothed out the invisible wrinkles of her light green dress and cocked her head to the side. "You need to at least try to be happy for your family's sake. I want you to be smiling. Even _he_ wants his mother to be joyful despite the situation from the past. I never meant that you should forget him. It will take me years to even dare to lose my precious memories with Dan and Nawaki, however I always feel that they are watching me with all their love and hoping that I'll be happy regardless of what happened."

"I know, I know," Kushina lightly exasperated with her hands slightly waving in the air. "I just…I just wish he was alive. It's supposed to be his sweet sixteen today." Kushina chuckled sadly as some of her fingers were combing through her red locks. "I want to see him smile, potty train, ride his bike, lose his first tooth, train with swords and other weapons, getting his first girlfriend—basically becoming a growing man. And now I-I-I can't." Her tears were hidden from the other riders, but they took notice of her wavering voice with concern.

"Kushina," Minato turned to face his wife and hugged her as he showed grief on his face. "Hey, you're not the only one who missed him. We barely took time to be with him when the war was raging on. Only three hours, and then he was ripped away from us." The blond man then faced his two other children, who were both quiet during the conversation. "I wish you could've met him."

Hikaru and Yuki only just nodded in acceptance, while Tsunade and Jiraiya showed depressed gazes at each other. The limo was quiet for the moment besides the sound of the vehicle moving before Jiraiya broke the silence.

"How about we go out to eat?" Jiraiya suggested.

Tsunade growled before punching the perverted author right in the jaw. "Why think about food at the time like this!" She shouted.

Jiraiya tried to ebb his painful jaw before he noticed that he had everyone's attention. "No, no, I mean we go out to eat to celebrate Naruto's life on earth."

"Why didn't you say so before, Jiraiya?" Minato chuckled lightly.

Jiraiya huffed and pointed at Tsunade. "Well, she didn't let me finished."

"Finga pointin' is wrong Jirai'a," Yuki said while trying to be serious, but managed to look like a puffing Buddha in a blue, plaid dress with frills at the hem with the matching bow and black patent dress shoes.

Hikaru deadpanned as he placed his hands on the pants part of his black suit. "Wow, so mature, Yuki."

Jiraiya laughed at the sight. "All right, all right, princess. You're right. So what should I ever do to get back your trust?"

Yuki broke out into a grin. "Gimme piggyback rides!"

Jiraiya snorted. "Sure why not!" Then he looks toward the other adults in the limousine. "Anyways, where do you think we should go?"

Minato pondered and faced his wife with a small smile. "Where, Red?"

"Is there a place with _real_ ramen?" Kushina asked.

Minato shook his head in his left hand as he murmured an "only you" when Tsunade answered with a smirk. "Ichiraku Ramen. That's the only place along with some others that I've remembered that's still in business after the war." Gleefully, she smiled at Kushina. "Aaaand, it has some legit ramen; pork, chicken, diet, vegetable…salt."

The queen's eyes popped and turned to the rest of the occupants of the back. "C'mon, let's go!" Soon, she faced the mirror when she held contact with their driver, Hayate Gekko. "Take us to Ichiraku!"

Hayate coughed into fist. "Yes, ma'am." He turned a corner and went off the reach to the queen's requested destination.

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**How is it? Do you think I should continue? Do I have writing issues? If so, please message me or review. I would really love to hear about your suggestions, comments, etc. Anyways, have a good day/evening/night. :)**

**-Chiharu Hikari**


	2. Surprises with a hint of Concealer

**Disclaimer: Naruto and co. along with Naruto-related names are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot/story/ideas are all by me and I do not receive profit from writing this, and this is only for my own enjoyment. And as mentioned the quotes below in italics are by their right owners (I got them from the quotegarden and other quote websites) .  
**

**Hope you enjoy the story.**

_Italics for thoughts, titles, quotes, flashbacks, etc._

Normal text for the story in general.

**Bold for setting, chapter title, and notes at the bottom.**

**

* * *

**

_I've been around a long time, and life still has a whole lot of surprises for me.__Loretta Lynn_

_It is an endless procession of surprises. The expected rarely occurs and never in the expected manner.__Vernon A. Walters_

_Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. ~Judy Garland_

_Most of our faults are more pardonable than the means we use to conceal them. ~François Duc de La Rochefoucauld_

_**Crown Lesson 1: Surprises with a hint of Concealer**  
_

**Ichiraku Ramen Restaurant & Bar**

**October 10, 2008**

"Wow!" Kushina couldn't believe it; a real ramen place! Well, she did notice the changes of the place like how the restaurant has expanded to fit more people than the usual four booths with a kitchen behind the counter separating the cook and waiter from the customers.

However, there was one problem.

"Kushina, don't." Minato gripped on her shoulder.

"Why not?" The impatient queen feel the need to connect with her love again, so why should her husband stop her, she didn't know.

Tsunade went in front of the redheaded woman. "We can't go in head on with everyone knowing that _we_ are really here."

Kushina eyes widen at the thought and scratched behind her head with a nervous laugh. "Sorry. I totally forgot about that. So what should we do?" Then an idea struck to her. "How about Jiraiya take a go?"

"What?" Said man asked.

"I mean that maybe you can tell at least one of the workers to open up the back door to go in the place. And hopefully that we can go to a private booth?" There are times when she wanted to swing him out the window for trying to woo others, mainly women, but this is a dire situation to her: one, she wants to celebrate her deceased child's birthday here, and two, she wants some old fashioned salt ramen.

Before Jiraiya could respond, a voice piped up. "Well, he doesn't have to."

The famous group suddenly turned to the voice. It belonged to a girl of eighteen leaning against a wall with a cigarette dangling between her index and middle finger; she has light red hair and yellow contacts, and was wearing a waitress uniform that consists of a white button down blouse with a black vest that has a ramen logo with matching black tie, skirt and shoes. She dragged out a smoke before saying, "Follow me" and started to walk to the side of the building. Everyone else stared at each other with a shrug before following the smoking waitress. Unlike many alleyways, the lane next to Ichiraku Ramen was clean and clear for everyone to go through.

The waitress posed by the opened door that contained the sounds of water, the clinking from the dishware, and sizzling. "Here we are," she deadpanned while trying to look enthused by acting like a showgirl on television.

"Why thank you," Tsunade responded with lack of enthusiasm. The girl made eye contact with her for a moment before shrugging her shoulders lightly and turning herself to face the others.

"All right, so we have…" she counting the group "…five, no six, people, and a private room, right?" She asked Kushina, who then nodded quietly. "Okay, then. You're lucky that I was up front or he," she pointed at Jiraiya, "famous or not, would be screwed. This is Konoha; not Hollywood. Hmm, once again, follow me."

They followed her again through the noisy kitchen. Four men were cooking all at once with a few others cleaning up the place or bringing up plates and other dishes. The sight didn't faze the group at all, since they were used to the cooks in the kitchens in Hokage (the castle) except for the fact that the workers in the restaurant didn't pay them any mind besides one.

"Ichigo! What did I say about smoking in the kitchens?" A long, brown haired girl asked. She was also in the same outfit as the other girl, but was the shorter one of the two.

Ichigo gave out a frustrated sigh before throwing the used up cigarette in the ashtray near the outside door. "Smoking can affect the food, and defected food equals bad business. Aaand, I get fired by this place along with the trouble the nicotine caused in my lungs, which would lead me to a sad and horrible death. Happy, Ayame?"

"Very," Ayame smirked until she noticed the group behind Ichigo. "Oh, customers?"

"Yeah," Ichigo answered. "Is the private room available? You know the one that has the 'see them and not be seen' feature?"

"Yup." Ayame looked to the group carefully, and seconds later, with wide eyes. _Royalty, here? I-in Ichiraku? Oh okay, Ayame, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. All right, now be polite and—darn it! I'll just be my usual self._ "Okay, you all follow me. And since you're here, it will be easier for you to reach the booth unnoticed, all right?" Then, the walking continued to the path of the private seats.

Kushina said. "Well, we have been playing following the leader for a while now."

_Was the Queen trying to joke? Holy sh—_ Ayame laughed a little nervously. "Sorry. Let me set it straight. 'Come with me?' How's that?"

Jiraiya laughed lightly. "Much better."

Finally, they have reached their destination in awe. The center of the room has a dark brown trestle table (considered as an Expresso finish) facing horizontal across from the door with six matching chairs and a delicate miniature statue of a tree as a centerpiece being surrounded by six sets of table napkins wrapping the hidden silverware. The floors were wood; the walls, except one that was made of glass to see the rest of the restaurant, were dark brown yet the wall-hanged candle lights allowed them to brighten in golden brown; and behind the table, in the group's view, was a single painting of an apple tree in front of Mount Kage.

"Pretty," Yuki whispered as her eyes flickered around the room twice. Despite not being in bright beautiful colors, Yuki think she can handle the glowing things brightening up the place; it as if the things were fairies to her.

"Are you sure?" Ayame asked. "If you rather prefer a more Japanese oriental theme, we have one around the hall."

"No, no, this is nice. So may we sit here?" Minato asked. It was already eight, and felt the need to settle down as soon as possible…not that he was impatient or anything.

Ayame released a deep breath in relief and smiled. "Sure." At that answer, in a few moments the group sat down with Jiraiya and Minato sitting at the ends of the table while the women and children sat on the sides. "Here you go," Ayame said when she handed out the menus. "And while you all choose your food choices, would you like a drink to start off with?"

Yuki exclaimed, "Stwawbewy juice!" Also Hikaru agreed to Yuki's choice. Minato and Kushina chose Fireland's Finest Green Tea while both Tsunade and Jiraiya decide on sake. Ayame told them to take their time, and left with the orders.

Minato, then, looked at his mentor and friend. "Sake. Really, Jiraiya?"

"Hey," Jiraiya shouted. "I deserve it for bringing the 'go out to eat' idea. So there." The white haired man sticks out his tongue at Minato.

"Yeah, very mature."

**Ichiraku Ramen**

**Drink Station**

"So…who were the ninjas?" Seishou asked.

Saya punched him gaining an "Ow!" from the blond waiter while Ayame was busy filling up the cups with liquid. "Sei-kun, _our_ customers are not ninjas. And please don't say that again; no customers, no pay. No pay, no success. No success—"

Seishou waved his left hand in dismissal. "Yeah, yeah, I know." He turned to Ayame who was onto her last cup. "Need help?"

Ayame gave him an annoyed look. "No, I totally capable to hold on six drinks on a platter like an independent woman should and hopefully can fulfill my life, long purpose."

"And what will that life purpose be?" Saya asked.

"It's to get that make-up off of Sei!" Ayame exclaimed. She let go of the drink and rushed to the blond's face to rub his cheeks.

"Hey!" Seishou said. "Don't." Currently, he was trying to get Ayame away from him through pushing her back with his hands.

"Why not? I thought you look cute with those whisker-like birth marks. Right, Saya?" The green haired waitress nodded.

"No one would take me seriously," Seishou answered.

Saya pleaded, "C'mon, Sei. I actually took you seriously when you present the whisker marks."

Seishou snorted. "Yeah, says the girl who dyes her hair twice a month." Saya glared at him.

"Fine," Ayame sighed. "We can't stop you from hiding your look."

"Thank you," Seishou said.

Ayame then put her (wet) hands on the waiter's face; mainly on the concealer-covered cheeks. She was trying so hard not to laugh as it would take her out of her mission to clean Seishou's face. "It's not like you don't have the right to do what you want. So…come and help me with this order. Please?"

Seishou sighed and wiped the wet marks Ayame gave him, which have also taken off the concealer and he wasn't aware of the gleeful looks from the two girls. "What happened to being an independent woman?"

Ayame glared at him. "Okay. Sure, I would love to help," he said. "So who are the "oh-so" _secret_ customers?"

Ayame smirked at him. She was happy that was able to meet the royal family _and_ managed to make Seishou to take off his marks discreetly. "You'll see. Now take those three on a tray, while I take the other set." Seishou nodded.

"Oh well, I'll just go back to work," Saya said happily as she noticed more customers entering through the entrance.

Seishou narrowed his eyes at Saya in suspicion as he followed Ayame to the private room. _She never acts so happy when more customers arrive…and Ayame barely smirks gleeful to me unless…birthday present? _He shook his head. _No. Then what? _He allowed his mind to reel back in time; he remembers them talking about the mysterious customers until they talked about his… _Oh no! _The blond waiter realized that he and Ayame were close to the room. _I can't leave now. _

"Aya-chan!" Seishou smiled forcefully at her.

Ayame looked at him in question. "Yes?"

Seishou continued to give his fellow worker a fake smile. "Why did you make me take it off without warning?"

It took a second for Ayame to realize what he was talking about before she gave him a small smile. "Sei, please. You need to understand that you shouldn't be ashamed of yourself or your looks."

He replied, "Well, _you_ need to understand that maybe I need some time before I do."

"Ever since that time, I've been—no dad and I have been waiting for six years for you to stop hiding behind that damn make-up," Ayame put in with a huff. "And please don't embarrass yourself in front of royalty because you have a problem about what you look like."

Seishou sighed. He wished he could've lain down in his bed for a moment besides serving. "I know, but I need more time—"

"And what?" Ayame interrupted. "How long can you hide it? How long do you need to despise yourself? Seishou—never mind. Let's just serve. They probably wondered what took me so long."

Seishou nodded sadly, forgetting Ayame mentioning 'royalty' earlier, and straightened up in hesitant determination.

"Okay." _I have to face this sooner or later, so why not now?_

**Back in the Private Room**

"It shouldn't take so long to get drinks," Hikaru huffed in boredom.

"Well, brat this _is_ a popular restaurant after all," Tsunade gave Hikaru a pointed look.

"I'm not a brat!" Hikaru exclaimed.

"Prove it! Try one day without acting like a proud prince," Tsunade said. Hikaru glared at the woman before looking away in displeasure.

Kushina piped in. "C'mon Tsunade, Hikaru don't argue today. We can't..." The rest of the sentence didn't have to be continued. Everyone knew. Well, the kids know to an extent.

"Mama, what's Naruto like?" Yuki asked quietly. No matter how many times she asked, she always likes to hear the answer from either parent since they would smile at the short memory they had with their first son. So when they're happy, Yuki's happy or that's what she believes.

"Well," Minato, instead of Kushina, began before he was interrupted by two people.

"Hey, sorry about the wait," Ayame said as she carried half of the drinks.

"That's all right," Jiraiya said warily. They were that close to hear about a very serious topic, after all.

"Okay, so…strawberry juices to the little lady and man." Ayame placed the two small glass cups on the table in front of Hikaru and Yuki. "And the green tea to you." She handed said drink to Minato. "Seishou?"

Said waiter nodded before snorting, which put everyone's attention to him while Ayame slinked away from the room. "Sake? In front of kids? Geez there better be a good reason why you both are drinking."

Jiraiya frowned. "That would be us."

"Oh, okay. Sorry about the comment, I was just wondering," Seishou answered idly.

"Well, you're wondering to a dangerous place," Tsunade growled. _I thought this was a nice place until this whiskered kid came in. And he's a waiter? Wait! Where's the girl?_

Seishou sighed and pulled a sorry face. "I apologize." Then he gave them a smile. "Maybe later I'll give you a bottle of sake later for free."

Everyone gave him a look of disbelief. "You serious? If you aren't, I'll hunt you down," Tsunade pointed out.

The blond waiter nodded before looking around the room. "I promise. And who wanted the green tea?"

Kushina raised her hand slightly. Seishou gave her a grin and set the drink before her. "Good choice," he said behind her.

She chuckled. "Well, I do love my green tea. Not too bitter or too sweet." Next she turned around to face the waiter. And when she did, her mind was scrambled in shock. _My baby? Na-_

"So what you would all like?" Seishou asked. He did have a feeling that Ayame would leave him after that confrontation. He was so right, and he would love to chase after her but he wouldn't do that to such patient customers.

"Sir, I would like Waves' Shrimp Fettuccine," Hikaru answered politely as he slowly folded his menu and handed it to the waiter.

_Wow, that's how young kids act nowadays? _Seishou thought.

Jiraiya piped up, "Fireland's Rack of FireRibs with garlic bread and French Onion soup for me."

"All right," Seishou said as he wrote down the items on his notepad. "Ma'am?" He pointed at Tsunade.

Tsunade stared at Seishou carefully. "Chicken Caesar Salad, thank you." The waiter nodded to her before looking at suddenly shocked Minato.

_Nar—_ "Um, I would like the FireLobster with a side of mashed potatoes and vegetable ramen," Minato finally said. _He couldn't be him? Can he?_

"'Cuse me, cat waiter," a squeaky voice said. "Does a chicken have fingers?"

_So I'm a cat waiter now?_ Seishou looked at the person with voice, and face to face with a little redhead girl. "Well," he started with a grin. "No sweetie. Did you ever have chicken nuggets before?" The girl nodded slightly.

"Yeah, it's almost like them but longer."

"Really?" she asked in wonder.

The blond waiter smiled. "Really."

Yuki shouted in glee, "Okay! I want Chicken fingers and fries, please!"

Seishou nodded with a light chuckle and turned to Kushina. "And you, ma'am?"

Instead of answering his question, Kushina just stared at him openly. "Ma'am?" He asked again. _Maybe having my marks showing out in the open wasn't a good idea._

Minato suddenly shook his wife out of her staring moment. "Kushina?"

"Oh!" Kushina was flustered. "I'm sorry. I, uh, would like salt ramen with a side of fries. Please."

"Okay," Seishou said dejectedly as he wrote down the last order. "I'll come back later for the food. In the meanwhile does anyone need a refill?"

Hikaru and Yuki raised their empty glasses. Seishou gave them a small nod. "I'll give you all refills, then. Excuse me as I give the chefs the orders." Then the waiter left the room.

Once making sure anyone outside the room was out of earshot, Minato looked at Kushina sadly. "Hon, you were staring at him."

Kushina sighed gloomily and looked at her husband with sad eyes. "I didn't mean to, but he just looks like him. Though older."

"I know, even I was in shock," Minato said while holding onto one of Kushina's hands. "But you made him more uncomfortable. He probably thinks that you think he looks odd."

"What are you guys talking about?" Jiraiya asked. As a man of knowledge, or so he was claimed to be, he did not like when he's out of the loop.

Minato sighed prior to looking at everyone else besides his wife.

"We think we just saw Naruto."

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**Okay to make things straight for future chapters is:**

**1)Seishou means "liveliness" and "bright"; so it makes sense for the character to be called that since it's one of his characteristics to be bring liveliness in someone's life.**

**2) I put crown lesson as a way to show that it is a story about royalty, princes, etc. (which would be a little more different than what our world is used to on the ideas of it except for some titles), plus crown, which I got from Dictionary . com, also means the top or highest. So it's a main lesson of the chapter somewhat.**

**3) Everything will be clear (and better) in later chapters as I'm only building up to the time when I get to that point in the story. Mostly when...CAN'T TELL YOU! Sorry. :(**

**4) And hopeful I at least get to chapter five or so before school starts later this month since college and work equals busy.**

**So I hope you have a good day/evening/night. :)**

**-Chiharu Hikari**

**P.S. Is my story that okay? I read the reviews and I was happy reading them, but I felt the need that I might get a beta soon. Not sure yet though.  
**


	3. Remembering Naruto

**Disclaimer: Naruto and co. along with Naruto-related names are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot/story/ideas are all by me and I do not receive profit from writing this, and this is only for my own enjoyment. And as mentioned the lyrics below in italics are by their rightful owners .**

**Hope you enjoy the story.**

_Italics for thoughts, titles, lyrics, flashbacks, etc._

Normal text for the story in general.

**Bold for setting, chapter title, and notes at the bottom.**

* * *

_Everyone is changing  
there's no one left that's real  
to make up your own ending  
and let me know just how you feel  
cause I am lost without you  
I cannot live at all  
my whole world surrounds you  
I stumble then I crawl_

_You could be my someone  
you could be my scene  
you know that I will save you  
from all of the unclean  
I wonder what you're doing  
I wonder where you are  
There's oceans in between us  
but that's not very far_

_**Blurry –Puddle of Mudd**_

_**Crown Lesson 2: Remembering Naruto**_

**October 10, 2008**

**Ichiraku Ramen**

**Private Room #1**

"That was Naruto?" Jiraiya couldn't believe it; the dead son of his student is not as dead as many people thought. The kid was living the life of a waiter when he has a seat to be heir of a very prestigious family, especially when the family is ruling the Land of Fire!

Tsunade looked at the couple with disbelief. "Are you really sure? This is the month of October you know; it's the time for kids to wear make-up and get free candy. This holiday month could also be a festive thing for the restaurant. So how you can be so positive that it's Naruto? And I don't mean to be negative, but you said so years ago that the baby was killed by Madara Uchiha himself."

Minato sighed sadly. "Actually, it was more like Naruto disappeared. We haven't seen hide or hair of him when Kushina and I faced Madara and her brother Kyuubi."

"What?" Tsunade screeched. "So why do you say he died, then? Did—"

"Yes," Kushina interrupted. "We've searched all over for him. We would've never abandon our son and assume he died…not so soon anyways. Didn't you remember how I wouldn't believe it for a year until his birthday had come and gone with no signs of him?" At the moment, the stubborn side of Kushina had risen with tears wetting up her cheeks. "Even now before seeing this waiter, I still believe he's out there. I don't know where, but I still believe even when others didn't. So please, please do not think for one second that I didn't search or care about my first son."

Then the queen dropped her head in her hands crying in distress.

It has been a while since the group witnessed Kushina Namikaze crying so painfully. Minato wasn't so sure how to sooth her or his self for that matter at the minute. He darted his eyes down onto the carpeting of the room. He remembered how he too cried with his wife when they couldn't find Naruto for months, but they also believed that they shouldn't cry because Naruto wouldn't want his parents to waste one life crying over him.

Suddenly, Minato raised his head and turned to look at his distraught wife. The blond king wrapped his arms around her as she hiccupped from all of the crying. He breathed into the scent of his wife; apples and cinnamon. _An unexpected lovely smell to a unique and lovely wife_, he thought. "Honey, how about we order a cake?"

Kushina only gave out random hiccups as she asked in disbelief, "A cake?"

Minato gave her a sad yet warm smile. "Yes, I think this cake is long overdue. It would be for Naruto." Then he turned to the group. "Would that work for you guys? Hikaru? Yuki?"

Hikaru and Yuki looked up at their father expectantly. "I'm—we're sorry about today. We didn't mean to ruin it for you guys."

"No, you haven't ruined it. It would be weird if you haven't talked about Naruto at all. And cake would be splendid," Hikaru answered as he gave his father a rare childish smile.

"Cake, cake," Yuki said excitedly.

Jiraiya sighed in amusement. "I guess this settles it, then. I wonder if this joint has cakes."

"We do," someone by the door answered.

The group found their blond waiter of the hour to trickle in with a cart filled with warm food and glasses filled with drinks. However, there was one thing missing.

"Excuse me, but what happened to the marks on your face, cat waiter?" Yuki asked.

Seishou chuckled nervously while scratching the back of his head. "Well, um, they were washable marker marks and I cleaned them off?"

Tsunade squint her eyes in suspicion. "Oh really? Then why are there something covering them?"

"Why would you say that?"

Tsunade walked up to Seishou and rubbed his cheeks until his marks were shown. "That's why." Then the older woman looked down to her hands and faced them to the group and then to Seishou. "Concealer?"

The blond waiter lowered his head in embarrassment. "I should go." He was about to bolt out of the room, but a hand tugged on his arm to stop. He turned around and faced Kushina.

The Queen of the Land of Fire looked at him sadly and sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out with all of the staring. It's just that you really remind me of…someone. The whisker birthmarks are actually wonderful; you don't need to hide them. Why not show them for the night? I really do like them, and later on you can figure out if you want to show them more than once. Would that okay with you?"

Seishou stared at her critically before he sighed and nodded in acceptance. "Uh, okay. And would it be okay if you all sit down. I need to pass up the food and whatnot."

Jiraiya shouted. "You got that right! I'm hungry right now."

While the two women sat back down, Seishou smiled a little as he served the food.

_They are not so bad. And who was that someone she was referring to?_

After he served the food and started on the second round of drinks, he asked, "Did someone mention cake earlier?"

Minato swallowed down his food and looked at the waiter. "Yes, um, is there a menu of cakes you served?"

Seishou nodded and pulled out a dessert menu. "Sure, some of the entrees here consist of a strawberry cake with some chocolate mousse, vanilla cake with Nilla Wafers™, um, a—"

Minato interrupted, "I'm sorry, but it only mentioned pieces of cakes; not whole ones."

"Oh," Seishou said with wide eyes, "sorry, I didn't you meant a whole cake. Well, sorry no. Would pieces do?"

"Maybe once we're done with our food, we can give you our decision. By the way, this is some good salt ramen," Kushina grinned.

"I'll tell the old man that you like it, then," Seishou said with a grin of his own. "Anyways, I'll go back out to tend the other guests, if you don't mind."

Tsunade waved her hand freely. "Take your time, and remember, you promised me sake."

"Will do!" Then the waiter left the room.

**Kitchens**

"So…how was the royal family?" Saya asked with a leer. One of the green haired waitress' pastimes was to mess with Seishou, especially when she knew he was clueless on some things.

Seishou scrunched his face. "Well, they were—wait! Did you say royal family?"

"Well, duh! Where have you been Carmen San Diego?" Saya asked.

Ichigo appeared by the kitchen's entrance as she sauntered towards the stoves with a pad in her hands, tore one of the sheets, and slapped it on the board in front of one the cooks with dirty blond hair by the name of Ryo. Then the girl turned her bored yellow eyes to Seishou. "What? You didn't know you were serving to the country's most influential family? Wow, and I thought I was clueless on current events."

Seishou huffed. "Well, I'm sorry that I rather take my time on something else than a totally exclusive thing."

Ryo piped in while he cooked a rice omelet. "Yeah, watching Soul Eater can do that to you." Then the older teen used a high pitched voice. "'Maka!' 'Soul!' Really, Sei, anime overruled real news?"

The occupants of the room chuckled. "Okay, okay, I see your point. Anime is bad for the soul," Sei said. _Yeah right!_ "So what's the deal with them being here tonight?"

The room got quiet after that. "What! What did I say?" The young blond frantically asked.

Done with the last set of chicken ramen for the night, Teuchi, owner of Ichiraku Ramen, father of Ayame and current guardian of Seishou, washed his hands and looked at Seishou with sad eyes. "Sei, you know about the Week of Terror, right?"

"Uh…I heard of it?" Seishou gave Teuchi a sheepish look.

Teuchi shook his head. "All right, everyone let's gather the remaining guests here. It's the annual Naruto story time."

"Naruto?" Seishou asked.

Another cook named Niwatori looked at his confused fellow worker. "You'll see."

All Seishou could do at the moment was nod.

**Private Room #1**

Tsunade looked at the see through window. Suddenly, everyone in the main room pulled their seats closer to an older man in the center of the room. Children ran towards the center and sat down in front of the man in delight. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she could tell it was something big to have all of those people to surround the man like that.

"Hey, what's happening over there?" Hikaru asked in curiosity.

Yuki shrugged, but it didn't steer her away from wondering what was happening outside their room as well.

Even Minato, Kushina and Jiraiya also thought about the same thing.

Then, a waitress with strawberry blonde hair almost rushed passed the room until Kushina cried out. "Wait!" The girl stopped and went into the room with shocked eyes.

"Yes?"

Kushina pointed to the window. "What's going on over there?"

The girl blushed before looking down to the ground then facing the curious group. "Um, every year we have a story time—"

"Wow! Stories!" Yuki exclaimed.

"Yuki, shh," Kushina said to her only daughter.

Yuki blushed at her rudeness. "Sorry."

Then the group looked back at the girl, and then the waitress continued, "Yeah, well since it was the last day of terror, um, our main chef and owner Teuchi Yasashii gives out an annual story about the last…fight between you and the enemy. You don't have to come. I heard from Ayame that you entered here secretly."

Kushina looked down sadly before giving Minato a wane smile as she stood up from her seat. A few seconds later, Minato went up beside his wife and held her right hand. "Is it okay if we tell the story instead?"

If the waitress wasn't nervous before, she was at that moment. "Uh, uh, um, let me ask Teuchi." Then the girl ran out of the room, and the group looked out of the window to see the same girl whispering to the man. The man—probably Teuchi—showed a light surprise on his face before giving the girl a smile with a nod.

The girl then face to where the window of the royal group's room was located and gave them a firm nod before blushing and heading off somewhere else.

"I guess that's the okay," Kushina said as she felt her husband's hand squeezing her own reassuringly.

"Kushina, Minato, are you sure?" Jiraiya asked.

Minato looked down at his long time friend and mentor. "Jiraiya, it's been too long. I think it's time to share our tale and pain with others. Think of it as being a therapeutic exercise for us."

"What's there-a-poot-ick?" Yuki asked as she tried to sound out the foreign word.

Kushina laughed. "It's ther-a-pew-tic, honey. It is like healing. You know, to make things all better?"

"Oh," Yuki said. "So mommy and daddy need to heal a boo-boo?"

"Yes, honey," Minato chuckled. "Ready?" He faced his wife.

"Ready." For the first time in years, Minato sees his wife shine out in determination.

"After you, my lady," the blond king said with a bow.

**Main Room**

"Wow! Is that the royal couple? And children?"

"King Minato! Holy cow!"

"How long were they here?"

"Duke of Gama and Duchess of Senju? No way!"

Teuchi took off his hat as he bowed down to the most powerful couple in the Land of Fire. "King Minato, Queen Kushina, it's a pleasure to meet you. And I'm happy to know that you'll be telling the story of that night instead of me."

Minato smiled at the older man. "It's no problem. Although we're sad about our loss, we're happy to tell it. I know that Naruto would be happy if we are." Kushina nodded at the speech.

"All right," Teuchi smiled. "Sit here." The man's hand motioned to the cushioned seats. "There's also a pitcher of water with glasses just in case you need a drink."

"Thank you," Kushina said as she took a seat following her husband. The rest of the group followed suit and sat beside them. Then the Queen of Fire looked towards the crowd surrounding them. There were cameras and camera phones flashing around while people called their family and friends about seeing the royal group in a family restaurant. Kushina waited for two minutes for all the madness to stop, but she was getting impatient. She was about to have a headache, her eyes glowed in annoyance, and suddenly, she had enough. "Wake up, Konoha!"

That got the room to quiet down. Then Kushina scratched her head and chuckled nervously before settling down in her Queen mode. "I'm sorry, maybe we shouldn't come here? You all seem oh so busy." She sighed sadly. In her mind, she was smirking. She noticed guilty looks in the crowd and was about to hear some apologizes, but she seized them by raising her hand.

"Good," she smiled gently to the crowd. "My husband Minato and I volunteered to tell you a very sad story. When one wants to become a good parent, they want the best for their child; mind, body and soul. They want to see them smile, accomplish many things in life, and allow their child to be proud of whom they are and who will they become. Sadly, we didn't get to go that far with our first son. However, we managed with our two, lovely children Yuki and Hikaru. Although we love them so dearly, we both know that at least we shouldn't forget about our first." Kushina, then, looked towards her husband to speak up.

Minato, in all of his blond glory, nodded and faced the awed crowd. "Our story started on the third day of October. It was eight in the evening and I was tending to a then-very pregnant Kushina. She was a week away from being in labor. The doctor as well as Tsunade," Minato motioned his hand to the Duchess of Senju, "said that it is better if Kushina stayed at the castle for it was the only place she would feel comfortable and stress-free instead of a plain hospital."

Kushina took over the story while Minato took a sip of water. "Yeah, I remembered that. I wanted to sock the doctor for even trying to move me away from home." Kushina chuckled. "While we were in the comfort of our room listening to music and chatting, our head guard troop rushed to circle around our couch and told us about a break-in into our castle.

"They said it wasn't the typical break through a window break-in, it was more of an assassin's route. When they said that, I thought of many ways, the kitchens, the vents, the windows of unused room, the list went on and on. Even though we did cover the security of those places I've mentioned, it was still the 90's; it wasn't as secured as what the modern world has today. Besides that, when I thought more of how unsecure the palace was, the more stressful I was which had probably disturbed Naruto inside of me.

"Then all of a sudden, gas was emitted through the room. I wasn't sure, but it was probably in the vents. Every one of our guards dropped down like flies. And soon enough, so were Minato and I. At that moment, I wasn't sure about how dangerous the gas might be for the baby, because I didn't think of anything but being dizzy. Then my world became black."

"I wasn't sure what time it was," Minato said. "All I knew was that when I woke up, I was tied up to a chair and heard screams of the worst kind. Babies crying, mothers wailing, men strangled out cries of desperation. Nothing's worse than someone who promised the country safety and had to witness the torture the citizens when through. Then, my eyes squinted at the bright lights all around me. I took my time to adjust to the light, and when I was able to make out the scene, I noticed Kushina wasn't by my side. I wanted to break free so I can know where my unborn child and wife were located, so I was about to cut the rope with my hidden kunai until I heard a "tsk, tsk" by my ear.

"'I wouldn't do that if I were you,' the person said. I turned my head and gasped. I thought he was dead. Well, I thought so since it had been almost an eight or so decades when his defeat happened at the Valley of the End."

People in the audience gasped at recognition. Minato nodded. "That's right; Madara Uchiha was standing next to me with a daunting smirk. His red eyes glowered to me; filled with hate and bloodlust. It even gave me the creeps, but I still looked up. 'Why not?' I said. He answered, 'Or your wife and child will be killed by my ever faithful Kyuubi.' Madara's grin was almost as wide as a shark's as he waved his hand like a ringmaster at a circus. What appeared before my eyes was Kushina chained to a table with Kyuubi hovering over her with his sword, which is called "Akuma" ("Demon" in English), with a smile of a cruel killer.

"'So what do want from me?' I asked angrily. 'You have the country in terror, you have me tied up, and you are allowing a traitor to kill the loves of my life. So what else do you want?'

"'You're crown,' Madara answered as he stabbed me on the shoulder with a dagger. At the moment, I didn't care for the pain; all I care about is…fooling this man that he had the upper hand!"

The audience stared at their king in awe as they wait for the answer of fooling Madara. Instead of Minato speaking, Kushina took over. "We had planned it all out. We thought it over on how if were in danger, we had to fool others into believing we are weak." The queen raised her index finger with our right hand. "One, we act submissive." She put her middle finger up next. "Two, one of us gives out a lame speech of our so called weakness and the enemy's so called upper hand." Then she put up another finger. "And three, we surprise the enemy with our skills. However, that backfired."

One of the members of the audience spoke up. "How? Why?"

Minato answered, "Chakra suppression seals." Looking at some of the confused faces in the crowd, Minato sighed. "You know how in this world, some people has chakra, which is considered an extraordinary power, while others do not, correct?" The crowd nodded in confirmation. "Well, in order to stop one from using their chakra, one of the ways to do so is using seals to suppress it. In other words, we did not have our "powers" so to speak. All we have was some kunai and explosive tags, but that didn't stop us."

"Yes," Kushina said. "When brother Kyuubi—what? You forgot about him?—was having me trapped between a rock and a hard place, I thought of something and hoped my idea worked. So I said to Kyuubi gently even though I was feeling back pain, 'Um, big brother, can you loosen up the chains?'

"'Why? I have you right where I want you to be.'

"'Well, how about this, you can have Naruto…so he can be your weapon and future heir. You don't want the Uzumaki line to die out with you, right?'

"'There are women around to do so.'

"'But you don't like women.' Kyuubi gave me a glare. 'Okay. You said so yourself that women around here are weak and not as great as the ones in the Land of Whirlpool. Plus, Whirlpool died out long ago.' Kyuubi glared at me once again before heading towards a gleeful Madara.

"I thought. _Thank goodness! I hope that works._ Then sooner or later, I do not know completely how it happened but I noticed from the corner of my eye that a fight broke out from Kyuubi, Madara and Minato."

Minato went on. "They said in order to succeed, I should fight against them as they felt it seemed to boring and easy to just have us tied up. Happy to be free from the blasted seals, I…"

Sitting among the children on the ground, Seishou was in rapture by the tale. Kunai, swords, blood—though it did freaked him out that Queen Kushina's brother stabbed her above the stomach, but was happy that the baby was alive—Kushina entering the fight despite the fact she was pregnant, escape from the enemy, and the going on of the week of screams and death of many soldiers and civilians. By the time they were talking about the first and last day of Naruto's life and the last day of Terror, it was already ten-thirty. It's funny how some children felt woozy for being so tired, but it didn't stop the little ones from listening to the story.

"…after defeating those two monsters and their army, we never found him," Kushina cried. A handkerchief was wringed by her strong hands while her tears keep rolling down her cheeks. "I-I-I ne-never felt so torn before. It was like a happy moment turned into a disaster. He was in my hands in one minute, the next; he disappeared from the face of the earth. I-I—"

Minato took over with tears of his own. "W-we searched for him for days. Those days turned to weeks, which turned to months. Each search was as fruitless as the last. Sooner or later, it was already a year of his birth and we still couldn't find him. So in the end, we told the public that he was dead. However, we still believed that he is alive somewhere." Then the king of fire looked at Seishou in sadness. "We wished that he could live and grow up with us, but since that didn't happened. We at least hoped that wherever he is that he's happy."

Kushina hiccupped and chuckled as she sniffled into the handkerchief. "Today was supposed to be his sweet sixteen." She looked up to the sad and bigger crowd with a small smile. "Anyways, thank you for coming here to tonight to hear our side of the story."

"Yes," Minato piped in, "thank you for being here to listen." After that, the room was filled with claps and the song of 'Happy Birthday!' and the occasional 'Have a Happy Life!' with children squealing and clapping in delight. Minato and Kushina never felt so happy before on the day until now.

"Hey! Hey, pipe down," Teuchi shouted. "Anyways, everyone although I'm happy your happy and here and all, but Ichiraku Ramen is going to close for tonight." The crowd in the room grumbled in dissatisfaction, but had started to wind down and slowly leaving the building. A half-hour later, and the place was already cleaned up and people-free sans the workers and the royal group.

"Thank you for allowing us to stay here and telling the story," Kushina smiled.

Teuchi bowed before looking up the queen. "No, _thank you_. It's the least I can do for someone who has saved our country."

"Okay, then. I guess this is good bye for the night," Kushina said. The family, Jiraiya and Tsunade was about to leave until they heard a cry from the kitchen doors. "Wait! Wait!" Seishou cried.

Minato turned around and faced the younger blond. "Yes?"

Seishou blushed at the stares before turning his head to Tsunade, "You forgot about the free sake, ma'am."

Tsunade grinned to Teuchi. "Now, he's my favorite."

Everyone laughed until Seishou said something unrecognizable.

"What?" Kushina asked. "May you repeat it again?"

Seishou looked up blushing. "Um, I was wondering if you all would like to stay for a few more minutes."

"Why?" Hikaru grumbled. It was way passed his and Yuki's bedtime and he would like to sleep. _But if this is for some stupid reason like an autograph, I'll sock 'im!_

"As the birthday boy, I would like to offer you guys some cake!" Seishou grinned.

Minato's eyes widen at the sudden information._ I know we do not have medical facts about him to insure that he is our missing child, but he looks just like a mixture of Kushina and I. And also has the same birthday as Na—_

"We would love to," Kushina said.

"Okay, here's the cake," Niwatori said as he moved the cart right into the room with the cake on top. The cake was a three layer chocolate and vanilla cake with blue frosting and orange icing that spelled out 'Happy Birthday Sei!' with swirls surrounding it.

Seishou laughed. "Yes! Something masculine!"

Ayame gave Seishou a deadpanned look. "Fine, next year you'll have flower designs on it."

The blond waiter sticks his tongue out at the older teen.

"Very mature."

Seishou wiggled his eyebrows. "I've tried."

"No horsing around," Teuchi said. "Let's do this quick so we all can go home."

Seishou waved his hands with a smile. "Okay, old man."

Suddenly, everyone except Seishou was singing the 'Happy Birthday' song and finished with applause when the newly sixteen year old blew out the candles.

While Seishou cut out the pieces of cake, Kushina and Tsunade were talking about him in the corner of the room away from the others, who were playing around with frosting in their hands.

"Wasting food!" Ayame cried out before continuing to eat her slice.

"Kushina, what are you going to say? 'Oh, um, do you want to take a blood test? I just want to make sure that you are my kid'? Please, enlighten me." Tsunade said.

Kushina swallowed down her forkful of cake before answering, "No. I can't do that. I don't want him to be angry on his birthday. What surprised me though is how this kid knew—or maybe thought—today was his day of birth."

Tsunade looked at her. "Maybe he had the hospital wrist tag that mentioned that he was born on this day. Though its funny how in the medical records only showed that Naruto was the only one born on this day so far. "

Kushina scrunched her nose in thought. "Interesting."

**Opposite side of the room**

"Hey Kushina, Tsunade! Look here!" Minato shouted as he used his hand to motion the women towards him. The group already surrounding him went in shock as they looked back on to the object in Minato's hands to Seishou's face.

"What is it?" Tsunade asked.

"Naruto's picture," Minato answered. Kushina ran up to him quickly with shock etched on her face. "You found it?"

"Yeah," Minato chuckled nervously. "I was about to show you earlier after our story-telling, but I thought now was the perfect time."

"I'll say," Ryo said. "The babe just looked like Sei when he was young."

"Really now?" Jiraiya asked in surprise. Then the man turned his face to a shocked Teuchi. "Is there a baby picture of Seishou here?"

Teuchi got out of his stupor and nodded slowly. "Yes, weeks after we found him, we decided to take a picture of him. I'll go get." The owner of the restaurant rushed to a door that led to the stairs that lead one to the apartment upstairs.

A few minutes later, Teuchi came back down to the main room of the restaurant with a picture in tow. "Here," he said.

"Wow, they both do look alike," Ayame whispered.

"Very alike," Jiraiya said. "Almost like—"

"They are the same," Minato finished the sentence in shock. The king looked up to see a shocked Sei—no, Naruto slowly seating himself away from the group.

"No way!" The king heard the teen blond speaking. "If-if I am Naruto, that means—"

"Yes," Minato interrupted. "Then, you are Prince Naruto Namikaze of the Land of Fire; heir to the throne. Naruto, I am your father."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**1) Okay, although the song in the beginning is about a father and son being a part from the divorce and child custody, I found it to also relate to this story. If one thought about how Kushina and Minato being away from Naruto for so long (dead or alive).**

**2) I know, why is Seishou putting on back the concealer? Well, did you expect him to be all a happy camper when it was off? 'Cause low self-esteem doesn't disappear in an hour, I can tell you that. I have that issue too.  
**

**3) Okay, in the anime and manga, Teuchi and Ayame never had a last name, I know. But I put in one here, see. "Yasashii" means kind, which these two people showed to Naruto when others didn't in canon.**

**4) When Kushina said "Wake up, Konoha!" Remember the phrase, "Wake up, San Francisco!" from Full House?**

**5) In the end of the chapter I so wanted Minato to say that so badly. Plus, it was the ultimate (and only) quote that I got and remembered from Star Wars.**

**Anyways, if you have a suggestion, comment, review, etc. please either review or PM me. It would help the blood flowing into this story in the right way. :)**

**Thank you for reading,**

**Chiharu Hikari  
**

P.S. Hopefully the new chapter will be done before next week since I'll be in college (and hopefully a job), which equals to being very busy and a slow update on the story.


	4. Reevaluate the Situation

**Disclaimer: Naruto and co. along with Naruto-related names are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot/story/ideas are all by me and I do not receive profit from writing this, and this is only for my own enjoyment. And as mentioned the quotes below in italics are by their right owners (I got them from the quotegarden and other quote websites) .  
**

**Hope you enjoy the story.**

_Italics for thoughts, titles, quotes, flashbacks, etc._

Normal text for the story in general.

**Bold for setting, chapter title, and notes at the bottom.**

Anyways, sorry for the slow update. College took over for the past two weeks and I have to adjust to it...and the work. XD

P.S. The end has changed a bit. Sorry about it; maybe it's not cool to send in a new chapter when one's sick.

* * *

_Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead  
Yesterday is a promise that you've broken  
Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes  
This is your life and today is all you've got now  
Yeah, and today is all you'll ever have  
Don't close your eyes  
Don't close your eyes_

_This is your life, are you who you want to be?  
This is your life, are you who you want to be?  
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be?  
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose_

_**This Is Your Life –Switchfoot**_

_**Crown Lesson 3: Reevaluate the Situation**_

**October 11, 2008**

**Ichiraku Ramen**

**Seishou**** Naruto's Room**

"Prince Naruto Namikaze," he whispered to himself.

At six o' clock in the morning, the newly named Naruto looked up from his bed at the ceiling of his room of his fifteen years of life. _The life I wasn't supposed to have_, he thought sadly. _Would I be happier as a prince? School here's a bust, but it didn't hinder my love with the family and friends I have here. Though I always do wonder who my real parents are…_

The recently sixteen year old boy shifted his body to view the window on his left. His room wasn't much, but he grew to appreciate it. The walls were dark blue which the color was covered by brightly colored posters that mentioned ramen, cars, bands and various anime. The shelf, facing the end of his bed, was semi-filled with manga, modeled airplanes and cars, textbooks, and classic novels like Sherlock Holmes and The Great Gatsby (Ayame's fault). Then his bed was covered with orange; the sheets, comforter and pillows. It was the only thing Teuchi and Ayame allowed to be attacked by that bright color.

At the moment the orange of the bed brightened by the rising sun outside through the window. The streams of sunrise always pleasure the blond; rays of orange, yellow, and red-orange entered the room by light. _It always show the same sign_, he thought. _It's a sign of a newly cleansed world from yesterday's endings to today's beginnings; the world is bathing in the light hoping the new day will be better than the day before. _Then Naruto snorted._ Okay, maybe I have been reading too much classic novels and poems. Ayame would be so proud._

He continued to look at the window as his grin morphed into a frown. _However, my yesterday is affecting my future. _Last night was one of the most shocking nights of his life…well before, it was the Whisker Incident. However, last night topped it when the King and Queen of Fire said he was their son. _Their son!_ He was fine and dandy about listening to their story of October 10th, but he wasn't ready for the fact that he was the missing son and prince!

Minato and Kushina understood how he was feeling. The ice dumped into your shirt feeling; one moment one feels like cursing up a storm from all of the "cold" shock of the ice, and the next, feels numb (and freezing) from the said cold. Okay, maybe that seemed negative, but that's how he thought he felt it as.

Anyways, since they understood it so well, Kushina mentioned how that they should allow him to recover from the news by sleeping here since probably sleeping in a castle would be too much to handle. Since then, he laid on his bed thinking about the situation at hand. Feelings were the first to come out. When he first thought of it in his room, Naruto was shaking and his face changed from the light tan to a dark pink with his eyebrows scrunched, his eyes blazing with hate as they turned from blue to purple, and his lips turning into a frown. He wanted to scream to the world _'Why did they not search everywhere?'_, _'Why did they not try harder to find him?'_, and _'This is so unfair! I have a home here! I can't leave now!'_

The anger lasted for two hours until his body slowly stopped visibly shaking while his eyebrows relaxed and his eyes turned back to blue with dismay, but his lips were still frowning.

_They never meant to leave me behind. They really did try, and during the story they expressed how much they missed…me. They __really__ missed me. My birth parents really missed me._

That thought took a while to manage, which led the tired blond to sleep with a small smile on is face.

Though that sleep didn't last that long.

Currently, he was pushing back the events of yesterday with the emotions connected with it and instead allowed the colors coming from the sunrise to capture his cerulean eyes' attention knowing that he only have little free time until the day truly starts. However, the sun show was interrupted with Ayame entering the room.

Ayame closed the door behind her and looked at the back of her pseudo-brother. "Se-Na—okay, what should I call you?"

The blond didn't turn around to face her. "I'm not entirely sure myself. Naruto's fine, but I lived the life of Seishou for so long that my birth name is somewhat foreign to me," he said softly.

Ayame walked towards the orange bed and plopped herself behind the boy. Then she softly combed her fingers through his blond locks like she always did whenever he had a nightmare, a horrible episode, and now, a totally shocking surprise. "Well at least the situation isn't entirely foreign to you."

Finally Naruto stirred slightly to face Ayame. "What do you mean?"

"Television," she stated.

Naruto snorted and gave her a playful scowl. "You know how much the media likes to exaggerate the situation."

Ayame rolled her eyes. "Right, that's a bad example to use. Though, I'm surprised that you handled it…well. You weren't your typical loud and tempered shell, which you always used for many situations…do you have something to tell me?"

Naruto scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Uh…not really?" Ayame lightly glared at him. He winced. Nothing can get passed Ayame. Actually, anything the blond has ever done can never get passed her. The younger teen looked at the palms of his hands before looking back at his pseudo-sister and sighed. "You know I always love you and the old man, but I did wonder who my real parents were. I wondered if they were alive, if they were kind or if they were alive that they probably left me behind on purpose." The blond looked down at his lap.

Ayame wrapped her arms around him gently.

Naruto continued. "However, I never imagined that they would be alive, and that I'm a prince." The boy's wide blue eyes stared at his sister in hallucination. "I am a-a real prince. I'm a living, breathing prince of Konoha. Holy shizzle-snits!" Suddenly he grabbed Ayame's shoulders as if he was beginning to become crazy. "What would others say? Damn! What would the media say? Would the king and qu—I mean, dad and mom still want me if I screwed up? What if—"

Ayame covered his mouth with her right hand with light annoyance going across her features. She understand that Naruto was going through shock and all, but waking up to hear worry tumbling out with the blonde's voice made her feel slightly worried and irritated at the same time.

"Okay, dude. I love you and all, but slow down. I know you're totally baffled by the situation but understand that in order to make everything all right, you need to be pacified to make it work." Then Ayame clasped her hands on Naruto's shoulders and gave him a blinding smile. "Now, it's time to open up. Dad's probably up by now."

Naruto rolled his eyes at Ayame's quick thought on the restaurant before smiling at her with a "Thank you" and heading towards the bathroom to start his last day as Seishou the waiter.

**Hokage Castle**

**Council Centre**

**7:00 A.M.**

Since Hashirama Senju first discovered the land that is known as the Land of Fire (Hi no Kuni) today and became the first King of Fire, he felt that as a ruler of these lands, the people are the ones who helped blossom the country that he had seeded in the first place. So for the people, he allowed a selected group of citizens ranging from the ones who carry the magical energy of chakra—mainly those people are claimed to be fighters and higher-ups in society—to the ones who have none to be called the Council. He believed that with the two types of people uniting along with the leader, the union would also make Hi no Kuni into an indomitable country.

Though no matter how much King Hashirama felt about forming the Council into one group would unite the country of fire, if he knew how the meeting was soon taking place, he would be rolling in his grave in regret.

Oh well.

It was seven in the morning and a council meeting was taking place in the Council Centre on the fifth floor of the Hokage Castle. The room was the size of two common houses with rows and rows of seats and tables settled in a circular direction; the yellow-orange walls contained a few portraits of the castle and other famous landscapes like the Valley of the End along with a few sound-proof windows to brighten up the place. Then in seconds, marquesses, earls, countess, lords and many others arrived in the room; some had looks of confusion and excitement while some had the looks of indifference.

"Now stand in silence," a guard shouted, "as your Majesty arrives."

Following that statement, King Minato and Queen Kushina entered the room with graceful strides, which was one of the ways to express one's power without entirely embellishing it. Each person they had passed bowed down to them in submission. Once they had sat in their seats at the center of the circle, the rest of the group sat down quietly.

"Now," Minato announced with his right hand raised up, "I know we all have planned to meet later on this week, but something or someone has brought us to our immediate attention."

Soon, the room was filled with surprised whispers. "Silence," Kushina whispered. Although outside the castle she was known for her brashness, inside the castle she can whisper as lightly as she can and everyone near her would hear it. That knowledge was put to the test once again when the centre was silent after her word.

Minato looked fondly to his wife then towards the people before him. "Thank you. As I was saying, someone has turned to our attention last night when we were supposedly honoring the death of our son."

"Sir, what did you mean by 'supposedly'?" One of the lords asked.

Minato glared at the lord who spoke. The King's eyes narrowed down to blue slits. "Talk out of turn again Lord Haruno and you and I will have a _little chat_ on taking turns during meetings," he said in a chilling manner.

Lord Haruno gulped with his eyes widen in fright, "Sorry your Majesty, please continue."

Minato nodded at the apology, and then nodded to his wife to complete his statement.

"Very well," Kushina said. "Let's not beat around the bush, shall we? Last night, we have found the missing Naruto Namikaze."

Once again the room was filled with noise, but it even worse than the last time.

"Is this true?"

"I thought he was dead?"

"It's October. Maybe the—"

"If the lost prince have arri—"

"Silence!" Minato shouted. "I am deeply ashamed of you all. I understand what was being said was shocking. However I thought all of you would've handled it more sensibly. The last time I checked, this is a meeting room for the mature and understand. If you all want to be childish, go to the playroom with my daughter." The noise then had subdued with guilt suddenly etched across the people's faces.

"Thank you, now as _mature adults_ we can discuss how to deal with this…situation," Minato said softly with his hands clasped together on the table. "At this moment, our son is currently safe somewhere away from here. We will not tell you where since we want him to be free from any royal contact before he arrives at the castle. And if you all are wondering about our safety, meaning if he is our real son, Duchess of Senju," Minato waved his hand toward said woman, "has already gotten a sample of his and our blood last night and gave us the results before this meeting. So it's really true that he is Prince Naruto Namikaze.

"So do you have any questions about Naruto?"

Near the back, a hand was raised by a crippled man with gauze covering up his right eye and a sling for his right arm. "Shimura," Minato nodded. The King didn't trust Danzo Shimura in the slightest, but when one has no proof of the other's agenda (mainly the rumors of an underground army that wasn't authorized by Minato himself), one couldn't do anything about it until the time is right.

"Your Highness, I was wondering about Naruto's training. I offer to train him to be as skillful and swift as you; maybe even more wonderful. But that also lead to my other question, does he have chakra to do such training?"

"We are not sure, and if he does, I love your offer, but I can't accept it. When Kushina was pregnant with Naruto, I have planned for Fukasaku to train him into the arts of swords, chakra and the ways of chivalry," Minato said. _But what happened if he doesn't have chakra? I know that nowadays that even parents with that trait can even have a child with none. And if he does, would the lack of time using chakra would make his power null and void? I guess I have to see when Tsunade gives us the results._

Then another hand, more closer to the King and Queen, belonged to Marquess Hiashi Hyuuga. "Yes, Marquess Hyuuga?"

Hiashi responded, "Who is the young maiden that will tie the knot with your newly found son?" Suddenly the rest of the people in the room looked towards the King and Queen as they wait for the answer. Any lady who would marry a prestigious family like the Namikazes is like having their own family married with them too.

Kushina spotted a dark pink blush while Minato coughed in embarrassment. Then Kushina pushed her blush down to a minimum and answered, "Well, what did you expect when a baby was just born in the middle of a week long battle? We didn't have the time to…plan out who Naruto's going to marry or when he was expected to have someone to marry him. Although, we rather have him married to a girl, we are not sure of what his…sexual orientation lays since this is the modern world after all. We probably have to ask him about that soon when he starts living here." _And what an interesting talk that will be_, Kushina thought. "Any other questions? This is the only time that we will have to talk about Naruto before the next topic in our agenda."

Only silence was the King and Queen's answer until.

Minato nodded and started, "Okay then, next we have on agenda for this impromptu meeting is the upcoming visit of…"

**Ichiraku Ramen**

**10:00 A.M.**

"Please follow me," Naruto said before he led a family of seven to an empty booth. Once the family sat down, Naruto handed out the menus, got their list of drink choices and told them to be comfortable as they choose there food and he'll be back with their drinks.

As he walked to the drink station, he started to notice how detached he was. He never felt so awkward to be in been in the restaurant before. Naruto shook his head slightly as to not attract attention and look down at his nametag.

"Hello My Name is: Seishou," it said.

_That's not my name_, he thought sadly._ I'm not supposed to be a waiter. I should be at Hokage Castle with—_

He suddenly snapped out of his reverie and realized that he almost overflowed one of the glasses with orange juice. "Oi," he said to himself. Then he put the full glass down on the table and filled the other three up with orange juice in determination. Later on he put the filled glasses on the tray along with three tea cups filled with coffee with milk and sugar in small packets. He was about to leave the drink station until a voice stopped him.

"Sei, what's wrong?" The blond boy looked to see a concerned look on Saya's face.

Naruto laughed albeit it has a fake ring to it, and responded, "Nothing's wrong. So if you excuse me, a family is waiting for my return." And then, he left Saya in her puzzled state.

"Something is really eating at the kid," she murmured to herself. "Oh well. Ayame will handle it." Actually, Saya wasn't completely sure if Sei—no, Naruto's feeling will blow over by the voice of Ayame or anyone really. _I know that feeling_, the green-haired waitress thought as she continued to serve her latest customers. _One minute, life's okay and the next, something or someone collides with that glass of that stable thought. It doesn't take just one "It's alright!"Or "It will become easier; don't worry, be happy now" to make it all better. He needs time. Hell! I need time to think that Naruto's a prince! A grade-A, "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter©" prince!_

Saya went into the kitchens to send over the orders. She was about to leave until a voice stopped her. "Excuse me, miss?"

"Huh?" Saya turned her head and looked at the speaker behind her. He had brown hair and dark eyes, a neutral face and a black suit. _Isn't he one of the guards? _It's true that he was one of the guards that stayed around the family last night. However, no one noticed that he, among two others, were in the restaurant until the royal group was leaving. Though in the end, Yamato was ordered to stay with the newfound blond prince as the rest of the group had to take leave for the impromptu meeting that they planned to have in the morning as well as using the blood Naruto was willing to give to take the DNA test with the help of Tsunade and her fellow medic.

Yamato was guarding the blond discreetly and carefully like a hawk as Naruto worked.

Saya was about to answer. "Yes, um…"

The guard stood up straighter than before and bowed his head towards the waitress. "I am Yamato Tenzo, temporary guard of Prince Naruto Namikaze, at your service."

She raised her eyebrows at the guard. "Okay…so what's up?"

Yamato coughed. "Well, I was about to ask of the prince's whereabouts in this establishment since the King and Queen are on their way here."

The "prince" of the hour then entered the kitchen.

"Your Majesty," Yamato said as he turned to the blond waiter and bowed to him more lower than the one he gave to Saya.

"Er, yes?" Naruto said awkwardly.

Yamato didn't take noticed of Naruto's tone of voice and continued on with his speech. "Your Highness, the King and Queen will soon arrive here. As your servant, I suggest that you…" the guard looked at the blond up and down before coughing and continued, "…change your attire."

"So—wait? Did you just say "Your Majesty" and "Your Highness"?" Naruto said frantically.

"Yes, Your Highness," Yamato said calmly.

"So, I'm really their legit kid?" Naruto whispered in slow horror and glanced at a shocked Saya. "No one was pulling my leg? I know they claimed me as their son last night, but I thought the DNA results would end up negative or something."

"No, Your Highness," Yamato replied. "Duchess of Senju also called to tell you congratulations on being the true Prince of Fire."

All Naruto could do at that moment was faint as if he was the mother in _Honey, I Shrunk the Kids _movies.

* * *

**Author's Note(s):**

**1) The song is supposed to represent the sudden changes in Naruto's life as he cannot turn back into his old life of yesteryear.**

**2) The phrase "Holy shizzle-snits!" is actually from me, since in real life I say that to avoid saying "Holy s***!" in front of my parents and teachers.**

**3) When I mentioned about his sexual orientation, this is only what the parents say. And since this is modern times, you can either go straight, bisexual or lesbian/gay (which I have no problems with). However, I'm not planning to have this story to go into heavy romance or anything. Well, not for now. Though I might have the story to go towards boy/girl if that occurs.**

**4) The chakra would be different from what you have watched/read from the anime series. Chakra here would be tied to chivalry, so it would be a little down played and altered as this is about royalty which would lead to knights. Yes, of course, that there would be corruption and whatnot as this is the modern era, but I'll try to have a chivalry to fit in with the times and try not to make it so "medieval".**

**5) ****About the storytelling in the last chapter, they are in the same country, not city. I'll explain that in the next chapter why their search was flawed.**

**6) Sorry about how this chapter is. The real stuff will happen in the next one. This just add some little oil to the blazing fire soon.**


	5. Leaving

**Disclaimer: Naruto and co. along with Naruto-related names are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot/story/ideas are all by me and I do not receive profit from writing this, and this is only for my own enjoyment. And as mentioned the quotes below in italics are by their right owners (I got them from the quotegarden and other quote websites) .  
**

**Hope you enjoy the story.**

_Italics for thoughts, titles, quotes, flashbacks, etc._

Normal text for the story in general.

**Bold for setting, chapter title, and notes at the bottom.**

**Author's Note: Sorry about the slow update, but college and life took hold of me. Plus, as you all should know, this isn't my best chapter (plus it's shorter than the last one), but it's all I can do for now as I have another essay to do and my muse is down the rabbit hole. :( This chapter is more focused on Minato, Kushina and Naruto (their little flame of family bonding). The next one will be better as it will be the start of the royalty life for Naruto.**

**Anyways, enjoy no matter how crappy. XD  
**

* * *

_Tomorrow morning if you wake up  
and the sun does not appear  
I will be here  
If in the dark, we lose sight of love  
Hold my hand, and have no fear  
'Cause I will be here_

_I will be here  
When you feel like being quiet  
When you need to speak your mind  
I will listen  
And I will be here  
When the laughter turns to cryin'  
Through the winning, losing and trying  
We'll be together  
I will be here_

_Tomorrow morning, if you wake up  
And the future is unclear  
I will be here  
Just as sure as seasons were made for change  
Our lifetimes were made for these years  
So I will be here_

_**I Will Be Here —Steven Curtis Chapman**_

_**Crown Lesson 4: Leaving**_

**October 11, 2008**

**Ichiraku Ramen**

**11:00 A.M.**

"Wow. Uh, are there etiquette lessons involved?"

"Yes. Is there something wrong?" Kushina asked with concern etched on her beautiful face.

"Uh…no," Naruto answered awkwardly.

A half an hour ago, Naruto considered Yamato's suggestion and had changed out of his waiter's outfit into a light blue button down long sleeved and dark blue jeans with a pair of dark blue Converse with orange designs on them. Sadly, to him, Ayame had to take over dressing his up to really, really tone down the orange. But all that matters was that he was dressed up decently and not like a hobo in the shelter a block from here.

At the moment, the King and Queen secretly entered the restaurant at a good time. For the hour the workers were on their break before the lunch rush in the next hour. Hikaru and Yuki had to stay at the castle with a baby-sitter while Minato and Kushina had to go all "Prince 101" on Naruto in the restaurant.

The blond totally envied his younger siblings. _Wow, that's going to take a while to get use to_, Naruto thought. _One moment, I was a waiter with a foster family; the next, I'm a prince who has two siblings and birth parents._

"Anyways, like we have said last night," Minato started, "as our son, today you'll come home with us and—sorry to burst your bubble—learn the certain protocols of being a prince. That means etiquette lessons, sword-fighting, chakra warm-ups and practices, proper speech, multi-language class, and so much that I cannot list at the moment. So do you have any comments or questions concerning it?"

_Uh, can I quit? It's not like as a prince I really have to do those things right? Please Kami, release my future pain! I will never go for any orange-related thing if I have to gain your acceptance! _Naruto asked, "What's chakra?"

Ayame, who was sitting next to Naruto during the royal confrontation, sighed. "Naruto, really? Don't you remember in class about chakra?"

Naruto gave her a blank look.

Ayame raised her arms in the air. "Sheesh! Oh, sorry Your Majesty, but can I give him the abridged version about it?" The couple nodded and Ayame started to lecture the blond. "Okay, chakra is the energy inside the person's body mentally, physically and spiritually. Got it?"

Naruto nodded. "Anyways, chakra is formed as the person having that power meld in the physical and spiritual aspects and allow it be seen physically through many elements. You know, fire, wind, water and earth along with some minor elements like ice and lightning. As much as that sounds awesome to have such abilities, mostly people with higher status actually have chakra or have relatives with it. Civilians like me and Dad don't have it."

"Oh," Naruto responded. "But is it possible that a child of both chakra-powered parents cannot have chakra?"

Kushina bobbed her head, "It's possible, but it's somewhat rare. Usually, the least what can happen is if the child doesn't have any signs chakra at the age of four, he or she might have it at a later age. Almost like a late-bloomer."

"Can I be a late-bloomer or a non-chakra kid?" Naruto asked.

Minato piped up, "Maybe, but we have to have Tsunade check on you about that. So in the past did you ever show any incredible strength or power even when you felt it was impossible to do so?"

Naruto thought for a moment before replying, "I don't recall…"

The Queen and King cast uneasy looks to each other. If Naruto doesn't remember any time of gaining chakra, there is the chance of him not using his chakra coils that can lead to either being a late-bloomer or cannot have chakra again. And that can sign his life goodbye since the lifestyle of royalty is anything but glamorous.

"…but does stamina helps?"

Kushina mentally shook her head from such sad thoughts and nodded, "Probably, but we still need to ask Tsunade about that. Okay?"

Naruto nodded in understanding. "Okay then. So what else is there to be a prince?"

It was that time that the King and Queen were blushing. Naruto raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "Uh, an answer would be nice by now."

"Naruto!" Ayame exclaimed disapprovingly when she shook her head in embarrassment. _I gave the boy classic books for a reason,_ she thought.

Kushina raised her hand up and smiled. "That's okay", she said and turned to her son. "Did…do, uh, you have any…er, sexual preferences that Minato and I should know about?"

Naruto blushed up to the tip of his ears, and shouted, "What?"

"Your Highness, are you all right?" Yamato shouted as he immediately ran away from his position by the front door to his temporary ward.

Naruto widen his eyes. _Oh, I forgot about that. _"Uh, yes I am. Uh, really."

Minato turned his head towards Yamato. "Tenzo, everything's okay. It was just a simple question that has shaken my son up. You can go back to your post now."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Yamato bowed down to the King and Queen before landing his eyes towards Naruto and gave him the same low bow, then raise himself up and turned his heels back to his post.

_I'm soooo not going to get use to that! And that son comment too!_ Naruto thought as he stared at the vacant spot that Yamato once bowed.

Minato coughed, and Naruto flicker his eyes back toward the older blond. "So what's the verdict?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "I'm into girls, thank you."

"Yeah, one time he said he met the girl of his dreams in the park," Ayame teased.

"Ayame!" Naruto shouted.

Kushina squealed as she clasped her hands together like a fan girl. "What girl? What's her name? What does she look like? How—"

Naruto held up his hands to halt his…mother—_have to get used to that too—_from talking any more. "Okay, one, I met her once. Two, we only just shared lunch. And three, we were only six," he counted down with his fingers.

"Oh," Kushina said sadly. "Oh! But there are probably girls at your school who would love to be your girlfriend, right?"

"Wrong," Ayame and Naruto said simultaneously.

"Eh?" Minato pondered after his sip of green tea.

Ayame stated, "Naruto was unpopular—"

"—an outcast—"Naruto piped in.

"—a troublemaker—"

"—a loser—"

"—an orange whisker freak—"

"—a prankster—"

"And…He's (I'm) called a bastard child!" Naruto and Ayame said together in sarcasm.

Then Naruto sighed and gave his birth parents a small smile. "Um, anyways, I guess I'll go pack for last minute's sake." He didn't wait for their approval and went towards his old room with Ayame tailing behind him.

"But he's not one," Minato growled to himself when Teuchi came out of the kitchen and handed Kushina a to-go container of salt ramen.

"Here you go," the old owner said. "And your Majesty," he looked at the slightly fuming King, "we know he's not a bastard child or a mistake, but what can we do to stop someone's thinking about an orphan or shall I say, 'hidden prince'?"

"Off with his head?" Kushina suggested before she sighed tiredly and looked back at the restaurant owner. "We never meant to leave him alone. There are times when I wish to turn back Time and pause it for a moment. Just one moment so I can hear the calls of my child who needs me." The redheaded beauty then looked down on the table as she clenched her hands into small pink fists whilst her fresh tears came down passed her rosy cheeks. "And I regret each day for not finding him."

Minato, too, was silently crying and looked at his depressed wife. _I need to stay strong_, he thought, _for my family. _He moved his callous yet gentle hands to cup up her face and allowed her violet eyes to level up with his cerulean ones. "_Now_," he started, "we have found him. That's all that matters. However, I guess we need to check back on our records to see who have volunteered to check this district from 1992 to 1996. Though in order to do that we have to be strong for everyone. Can you be strong for me and for our children, Kushina? Can you do that?"

Kushina grinned lightly and playfully (and roughly) slapped her husband's hands away from her face. "Of course I can, you pansy. Like one Chinese proverb said, 'Man is the head of the family, woman the neck that turns the head.' Plus, if I break down, then I can't save your sorry ass from trouble."

Minato snorted, "Right. Whatever you say Kushina." Kushina's response was a simple eye roll.

"Glad that has been dealt with," Teuchi said with a smile.

"Oh, sorry," Minato blushed lightly.

Teuchi rolled his eyes and waved his right hand. "No problem. Anyways, it's soon time for the break to be over." His dark eyes glanced at the clock above the couple. "Sei—I mean, Naruto! You ready?"

"Coming!" The blond shouted back. Naruto came out with a duffle bag, two suitcases, and a backpack.

"Uh, your Highness, I can carry that," Yamato said immediately with a quick bow.

"I can handle it. Really," the young blond exclaimed.

"It's not a problem," Yamato responded.

Naruto shook his head. "I don't want to trouble you with this stuff."

"Your Highness, it's no trouble of mine. I love to serve you," Yamato pointed out again. However, he pulled out a haunted face with huge ghoul-like eyes as if he was telling a ghost story around a campfire.

The blond shivered at the creepy stare, and sighed in defeat. "Uh…'kay," Naruto said warily as he slowly handed his stuff over to the weird guard.

"I don't know whether to run for the hills or be impressed," Naruto whispered.

Then a hand went onto the boy's shoulder. "I know what you mean; he freaks me out all the time too. But he one of the best," Minato smiled. "Now, as a fellow blond, I must warn you that you should be beware of fiery-tempered redheads and politics."

Naruto snorted. "Lovely."

"Oi, Naruto, didn't you forget something?" Teuchi shouted.

Naruto's eyes went wide as he turned to see the whole crew of the restaurant standing two yards away from him with sad smiles-a few girls were crying-on their faces. Then blond ex-waiter gave the group a watery smile as he rushed towards them to receive a massive group hug. "I'll miss you," Naruto murmured to them.

"Miss you too," the group said in unison.

The group bond lasted a good few minutes with hair ruffles, noggies, claps on the back and more hugs and kisses until the timer in the kitchen rang for the remaining workers of Ichiraku Ramen as a reminder that lunch time is on the way.

Suddenly, once Naruto slowly backed away from the restaurant family that stick by him for years, he felt as if there was a small rift between him as he thought of the fact that he was meant for the royal hierarchy of Konoha and not here. _But I'll be damned_, he thought.

"Guys," he whispered to the group that carried on to the whole room. "No matter what you'll always be family. And I will try my best to visit you guys in any way I can."

Teuchi walked over to Naruto and gave him a proud smile. "I'm glad my son. I'm glad. I really am. And we will always be waiting for you with open arms." Then the old owner wrapped his arms around Naruto with a compromising hug. "Please don't forget us no matter where you are."

Naruto's blue eyes were threatened with more tears. "I won't. I promise. And as you should remember, I never go back on my word!"

**Royal Limousine**

**12:30 P.M.**

(Flashback at Naruto's old room)

"_I'll miss you."_

"_You sound like Michelle Branch."_

_Ayame threw a pillow at Naruto. Twack! "Ouch," the blond exclaimed._

"_You deserve it," the brunette said cheerfully._

_Naruto grumbled, "I know. And I'll miss you too. I'll try to call."_

"_Try?" Ayame asked with a raised eyebrow._

_He sighed, "I will," while he shoved some books into his orange and red backpack._

"_Hey," she shouted as she jumps on top of the bed and whisked the books away from Naruto. "Books are treasures that one should take care of. Especially you, Sei."_

_Naruto didn't missed Ayame's slip of the tongue and slowly put his backpack down and himself onto the bed._

"_What's wrong?" Ayame asked quietly._

_Naruto didn't answer for a moment as allowed his blue eyes to glaze across the room. There was window, the bookshelf, the walls, and the desk with a matching chair. And the memories, he thought. "Everything," he whispered._

_Ayame sighed and went over to her pseudo-brother with her arms enclosing around his shoulders. "Why?" she whispered._

"_I'm supposed to be Seishou Yasashii. You what I wanted to be when I grow up? I wanted to be a child social worker. I know; me? A child social worker with all the pranks I've pulled?" The blond drummed his fingers on the bed before continuing. "It's just that since I thought I have lost my birth family yet gained one from you and Teuchi, I thought that maybe I can help children with their personal problems and find people who can take them in as their own. But I can't do that if I'm a prince."_

_The older teen huffed and bonked the younger teen on the head._

"_Ouch!"_

"_Stupid," she said. "You so can do it." Naruto glared at her, but she kept on talking. "Even if you'll become a prince, that shouldn't stop you from helping others. Geez, and I thought you have other issues to talk about."_

_Naruto just smiled at her wistfully. "I love you too."_

_Ayame sighed and ruffled his blond locks. "Yeah, yeah, love you too, squirt."_

(End Flashback)

Naruto stared out at the vapid landscape outside of the window of the limo with little fascination. When Ayame told him that she thought he had something else to say, he agreed. He really did have other issues besides that one, but he thought it was better if he held them back inside for the moment…even if his shoulder angel, the blond and young version of Mr. Miyagi, said it's better if he had let it all out.

He didn't want to say that he wished to travel the world freely instead of being cooped inside the castle and/or cannot stand to travel around with guards and enemies hiding the beauty of the globe away from him, or that maybe the missing piece to his identity puzzle will make him feel complete and he felt sorry that he didn't feel one hundred percent that way when he lived with Ayame and Teuchi, or that he felt scared of becoming an icon and (maybe) future ruler of a country where he was considered a number in a demographics chart of the Land of Fire.

While he was pondering about his worries, his mother, sitting next to him in her light blue blouse and skirt, gently placed her hand on his knee which had gained his attention and smiled at him.

"Scared?" she asked.

Naruto nodded a bit.

"Understandable," she said when she mussed up his hair lightly. "But I just wanted to say something, and hope you take it seriously."

The young blond turned to his mother's face and waited for her to continue. "When things get rough, please talk to us. We maybe seem like strangers right now, but I hope that'll change soon."

Naruto smiled weakly, "Me too."

"So with that out of the water," she started, "want to hear about my glory prank days?"

"Really?" Naruto widen his eyes.

Finished with his phone call, Minato snorted. "Glory days? Son, she still does them from time to time. Beware. One time your mother thought it would be nice to see Fugaku Uchiha…"

For the next hour, Naruto enjoyed his time listening to his parents sharing stories of their youth and battles. No matter what, the blond teenager couldn't help but feel as if his heartstrings were pulled gently.

_So is this what a relationship between a child and his parents feel like? If it is, it's the epic win of all epic wins_, Naruto thought.

* * *

**2nd Author's Note:**

1) This chapter's song is more how what Minato and Kushina thought about when it comes to Naruto when Kushina was pregnant with him. Sadly, in the story, they weren't able to be with him for years. In their minds as parents, they want to be there for him since they had finally found Naruto.

2) Who might be the lucky little lady of Naruto's past? XD

3) If you don't know who Mr. Miyagi is, he's the old man who helped Daniel with karate in the 80's movie "The Karate Kid".

**In other news, if you have this urge to request me songs for later chapters, that will be cool. So as a mini thought, the song has to relate with Naruto's change of scenery and lifestyle that will show in the next chapter or two.**

**Otherwise, a comment or a message will be nice. Anyways, have a nice day. :)**


	6. Sorry

_Dear readers,_

_Sorry if I haven't updated since last year, but with school, life, family and [sadly] writer's block, this story isn't one of my priorities right now. As well, there is the factor that I'm slowly lacking interest in Naruto itself since I find myself not reading the manga like I used to. Anyways, I thank you all for being supportive for this story so far._

_I really do not like that I left you guys hanging, but with my lack of interest, what can I do? :(_

_Maybe in the future, if I ever have time and interest, I might pick up this plot again. Though of course, there will be changes because along with the writer's block, I noticed that the story needed more planning and realistic timing than what I had originally did._

_Thank you,_

_**Chiharu Hikari**  
_


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